“I’m not sure…” – Mikel Arteta provides injury update as vital Arsenal duo forced off against Real Madrid
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has provided an injury update on star duo Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice after they hobbled off against Real Madrid last night.
It seems Arteta isn’t too concerned, even though he admitted both players picked up knocks and had to be taken off.
Both players were instrumental in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Los Blancos, with Saka winning both fouls for both free-kicks that were superbly struck into the back of the net by Rice.
Arsenal fans will have been sweating, however, when neither player could complete the 90 minutes, especially as there’s still an all-important second leg to play at the Bernabeu next week.
Mikel Arteta eases Arsenal fans’ injury fears
You can’t blame Arsenal fans for feeling pessimistic after all the injury problems they’ve had this season, with Saka himself only recently returning after three months out.
Thankfully for Gooners everywhere, it seems neither Saka or Rice had to go off with anything particularly serious, so it was perhaps just a bit of a precaution from Arteta.
“I think Dec had an issue with the foot, I’m not sure if it was a tackle or what it was and after Bukayo got tackled for the foul, he had a knock and he had to go off. It doesn’t look serious, no,” the Spanish tactician said after the game, as quoted by the Independent.
Arsenal are already without key duo Kai Havertz and Gabriel Magalhaes for the rest of the season, so they could really do without any further injuries.
Saka and Rice are sure to be crucial for AFC in next week’s second leg in Madrid, with Arteta’s side aiming to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2009.
It will be interesting to see if Arteta is tempted to rest players for the upcoming Premier League game against Brentford on Saturday, as the Champions League surely now makes sense as the bigger priority.
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